After a century-long search, paleontologists say they discovered an ancient jellyfish whose body resembles today’s box jellyfish and moon jellies.
A 508-million-year-old fossil discovered in the mountains of British Columbia has been dubbed the oldest adult swimming jellyfish ever found by paleontologists looking to understand soft-bodied animals’ relationship to the ancient past.
A new paper published this week in Proceedings of the Royal Society B details Burgessomedusa phasmiformis, a newly named animal and the first jellyfish species discovered in Canada’s Burgess Shale, located in Yoho National Park. Paleontologists found 182 fossils of Burgessomedusa between the late 1980s and 1990s only in a spot called Raymond Quarry.
Burgess Shale fossils were first found in 1909 by Charles D. Walcott, then Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, but Burgessomedusa have eluded detection for reasons that are still unclear, according to Smithsonian Magazine’s Riley Black.
Royal Ontario Museum paleontologist and study author Joseph Moysiuk said paleontologists who first saw the ancient jellyfish fossils decades ago knew almost immediately that it was an early jellyfish, but it took years before a formal description of the fossils was undertaken, according to Smithsonian Magazine.
Burgessomedusa’s mix of traits may indicate that it was a close relative of the common ancestor from which modern jellies diverged, according to paleontologists from the study. With more than 90 short, “finger-like” tentacles dangling from the nearly seven-inch umbrella-like animal, the fossil confirms that prehistoric jellies floated over reefs where their tentacles could capture prey, just like jellyfish spotted today.
According to the National Museum of Natural History, the diverse group of Burgess Shale fossils, which range in shape and size, are remarkably preserved and significant to researchers for several reasons:
Burgess Shale fossils of soft-bodied animals from a time when creatures were just beginning to evolve are so well-preserved because an underwater avalanche of fine mud buried them.
Only hard parts are preserved in most other Cambrian deposits, which limits our understanding of the geologic record.
Some fossilized specimens appear to be early ancestors of higher forms like algae and chordates (a major group of animals that includes human primates) while others appear unrelated to any living forms.
“Finding such incredibly delicate animals preserved in rock layers on top of these mountains is such a wonderous discovery,” said study co-author Jean-Bernard Caron. “This adds yet another remarkable lineage of animals that the Burgess Shale has preserved chronicling the evolution of life on Earth.”
Paleontologists debate possible cases of mistaken jellyfish identify
Researchers of fossils found in Utah and South China have also claimed the discovery of medusa jellyfishes in recent years, however, Moysiuk claims those animals are likely comb jellies, which belong to a different phylum of animals called Ctenophora. Comb jellies are similar to jellyfish and just as old, but the two animals belong in distinct taxonomic classifications, Moysiuk said. Comb jellies push themselves through the water with hundreds of tiny cilia, whereas free-swimming jellyfish pump a large bell-shaped body.
The co-author of a 2007 paper which describes a medusa jellyfish from Utah said he disagrees with some claims made in the newer study, Smithsonian Magazine reported.
In the 2007 paper, University of Kansas researcher Bruce Lieberman described a medusa jellyfish from the 505-million-year-old Marjum Formation. Although Moysiuk and colleagues say that previous finds, including Lieberman’s, were cases of mistaken jellyfish identity, the researcher maintained that these specimens are in fact jellyfish, according to Smithsonian Magazine.
“Although jellyfish and their relatives are thought to be one of the earliest animal groups to have evolved, they have been remarkably hard to pin down in the Cambrian fossil record. This discovery leaves no doubt they were swimming about at that time,” said Moysiuk, a Ph.D. candidate in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology at the University of Toronto, in a press release.
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The body of Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei — who died after being set on fire by her partner in Kenya — was received Friday by family and anti-femicide crusaders, ahead of her burial a day later.
Cheptegei’s family met with dozens of activists Friday who had marched to the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital’s morgue in the western city of Eldoret while chanting anti-femicide slogans.
She is the fourth female athlete to have been killed by her partner in Kenya in yet another case of gender-based violence in recent years.
Viola Cheptoo, the founder of Tirop Angels – an organization that was formed in honor of athlete Agnes Tirop, who was stabbed to death in 2021, said stakeholders need to ensure this is the last death of an athlete due to gender-based violence.
“We are here to say that enough is enough, we are tired of burying our sisters due to GBV,” she said.
It was a somber mood at the morgue as athletes and family members viewed Cheptegei’s body which sustained 80% of burns after she was doused with gasoline by her partner Dickson Ndiema. Ndiema sustained 30% burns on his body and later succumbed.
Ndiema and Cheptegei were said to have quarreled over a piece of land that the athlete bought in Kenya, according to a report filed by the local chief.
Cheptegei competed in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics less than a month before the attack. She finished in 44th place.
Cheptegei’s father, Joseph, said that the body will make a brief stop at their home in the Endebess area before proceeding to Bukwo in eastern Uganda for a night vigil and burial on Saturday.
“We are in the final part of giving my daughter the last respect,” a visibly distraught Joseph said.
He told reporters last week that Ndiema was stalking and threatening Cheptegei and the family had informed police.
Four in 10 women or an estimated 41% of dating or married Kenyan women have experienced physical or sexual violence perpetrated by their current or most recent partner, according to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2022.
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A rare Bronze-Era jar accidentally smashed by a 4-year-old visiting a museum was back on display Wednesday after restoration experts were able to carefully piece the artifact back together.
Last month, a family from northern Israel was visiting the museum when their youngest son tipped over the jar, which smashed into pieces.
Alex Geller, the boy’s father, said his son — the youngest of three — is exceptionally curious, and that the moment he heard the crash, “please let that not be my child” was the first thought that raced through his head.
The jar has been on display at the Hecht Museum in Haifa for 35 years. It was one of the only containers of its size and from that period still complete when it was discovered.
The Bronze Age jar is one of many artifacts exhibited out in the open, part of the Hecht Museum’s vision of letting visitors explore history without glass barriers, said Inbal Rivlin, the director of the museum, which is associated with Haifa University in northern Israel.
It was likely used to hold wine or oil, and dates back to between 2200 and 1500 B.C.
Rivlin and the museum decided to turn the moment, which captured international attention, into a teaching moment, inviting the Geller family back for a special visit and hands-on activity to illustrate the restoration process.
Rivlin added that the incident provided a welcome distraction from the ongoing war in Gaza. “Well, he’s just a kid. So I think that somehow it touches the heart of the people in Israel and around the world,“ said Rivlin.
Roee Shafir, a restoration expert at the museum, said the repairs would be fairly simple, as the pieces were from a single, complete jar. Archaeologists often face the more daunting task of sifting through piles of shards from multiple objects and trying to piece them together.
Experts used 3D technology, hi-resolution videos, and special glue to painstakingly reconstruct the large jar.
Less than two weeks after it broke, the jar went back on display at the museum. The gluing process left small hairline cracks, and a few pieces are missing, but the jar’s impressive size remains.
The only noticeable difference in the exhibit was a new sign reading “please don’t touch.”
VICTORIA – The British Columbia government is partnering with a bear welfare group to reduce the number of bears being euthanized in the province.
Nicholas Scapillati, executive director of Grizzly Bear Foundation, said Monday that it comes after months-long discussions with the province on how to protect bears, with the goal to give the animals a “better and second chance at life in the wild.”
Scapillati said what’s exciting about the project is that the government is open to working with outside experts and the public.
“So, they’ll be working through Indigenous knowledge and scientific understanding, bringing in the latest techniques and training expertise from leading experts,” he said in an interview.
B.C. government data show conservation officers destroyed 603 black bears and 23 grizzly bears in 2023, while 154 black bears were killed by officers in the first six months of this year.
Scapillati said the group will publish a report with recommendations by next spring, while an independent oversight committee will be set up to review all bear encounters with conservation officers to provide advice to the government.
Environment Minister George Heyman said in a statement that they are looking for new ways to ensure conservation officers “have the trust of the communities they serve,” and the panel will make recommendations to enhance officer training and improve policies.
Lesley Fox, with the wildlife protection group The Fur-Bearers, said they’ve been calling for such a committee for decades.
“This move demonstrates the government is listening,” said Fox. “I suspect, because of the impending election, their listening skills are potentially a little sharper than they normally are.”
Fox said the partnership came from “a place of long frustration” as provincial conservation officers kill more than 500 black bears every year on average, and the public is “no longer tolerating this kind of approach.”
“I think that the conservation officer service and the B.C. government are aware they need to change, and certainly the public has been asking for it,” said Fox.
Fox said there’s a lot of optimism about the new partnership, but, as with any government, there will likely be a lot of red tape to get through.
“I think speed is going to be important, whether or not the committee has the ability to make change and make change relatively quickly without having to study an issue to death, ” said Fox.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2024.
